Is ITV1 Continuity Clueless?

Another point I've considered with appropriate use of idents:

Last time the Boxing was on, they didn't use the ident with the boxer; in fact they didn't use a Sport ident at all, despite the event being under the ITV Sport brand -- why?

What is the point of having idents clearly suited to particular programme genres, when you aren't going to use them such?

ITV clearly do not care, and even know that people are realising this.

Since when has continuity been responsible for break slides, bumpers etc ? I think you mean presentation.

Is that right?

TTTV always used to refer to pres as the graphics/trailer production etc sections of continuity, and continuity as the anno and transmission sections.

You are right Jason, but I think it was Roy above who, several months ago, enlightened us as to the *new* definitions of 'presentation' and 'transmission' - that is, as defined by the ITV Network Centre and cascaded down to transmisson control at the London Television Centre. 'Presentation', if I remember rightly from what Roy last said, now refers to the suits in ITVNC who decide marketing and branding strategy, and 'Transmission' simply to the people who operate the transmission control systems at the LTC, who in turn employ voice-over artists who traditionally would have been referred to as 'continuity announcers' but these days are simply 'promo v/o recorders', brought in in the same vein as being hired to v/o a radio advert, except that it happens to be for broadcast between programmes. I don't think there is any such concept as 'continuity' anymore or the concept of need to attach any importance to the continuity or lack thereof, displayed in the choice of promos and idents that are simply pre-programmed in to the playout server to fill spot of x seconds of length. It may even be down to which advertisements have been placed in each break as to which idents are played, to identify the itv1 brand with the type of products being advertised, rather than to identify with the programme(s) that follow - bot in concept and also with respect to running time considerations.

Nearly right Mark!!!......Transmission now comes under ITV following the demise of LNN although indeed still operating from the London Television Centre ( until they are sold off and moved to Chiswick!)
ITV Continuity is a department in its own right answerable to Marketing along with Promotions. Continuity, in consultation with Marketing, employ the announcers ...(and indeed they are still live announcers not voice over artists )
Presentation plan and issue the transmission schedules including all the bits mentioned here ...bumpers, idents etc and are based at the Network Centre, and Promotions Planning commission, plan and place the promotions. They are not just randomly used as fillers.
Meanwhile Sales deal with the breaks.
These are not 'new' definitions as such - more a way things have expanded to encompass the family of channels to deal with. If it all sounds abit fragmented - you will find things are broadly similar at C4 and C5.
Sure, things were alot smaller when each local ITV only had one channel to deal with .. and
I appreciate that the BBC always referred to 'Continuity' as a catch all term but I was merely correcting the original notion that the ITV announcers were somehow responsible for all the elements in the break.

Right, so Pres plan things, and continuity actually implement.

Funny thing is, in the days I saw it at Tyne Tees, annos really did have a say in what promos went out, because they had (some) free reign to fill their (say) 40-second IVC segment with whatever they wanted to -- and if that meant that putting a promo out for programme X because Bill was going to talk about programme Y afterwards, that's what happened!

Of course, it helped that the chief announcer was also effectively the head of transmission Small-scale was interesting!

That was a few years ago Jason I think. The attitude to promos is very different now ( and has been for a while ) ..they aren't treated as fillers anymore - they are the one chance a channel has to flog its wares against ever growing competition. If time has to be filled its not down to transmission or an announcer to choose what to fill with. It used to be... but those days are long gone. Response to promo placing is as heavily tracked as programme ratings now.
And continuity don't 'implement' as such ...they just announce! and even they have guidelines issued as to what to promote where. Its a more cutthroat world these days.